Red vs Blue: Marta's Adventures
by Rey'ekk
Summary: AU for Red vs. Blue. Marta catches up to Richter, but in order to find Tenebrae and put an end to this, she's gonna need some help from an old friend.
1. Chapter 1

I've been chasing Sybak for a while now, and I managed to follow him to a small fortress near some snow-covered ruins. He walked towards a large door where two of those religious nutjobs from Flanoir island were standing guard. "You there, look alive," he snapped as he opened the gate and marched through.

"Crikey, boss seems like he's in a bad mood today," the blue guard muttered in a nervous Cockney accent.

"No kidding," the red guard gulped in a similar voice.

"What's gone up his bum, eh?"

"What do you think tomorrow is?"

I started moving, and I had my cloaking abilty ,thanks to my armor, activated but unfortunately my footsteps weren't quiet enough to go completely unnoticed. "Hold on a bit… You hear that?"

"Hear what?" the red asked.

"You hear that?"

"Hear what?" the red asked again.

I slid my knife out of my holster, knowing that they would hear it. "Come on, you gotta hear that."

"Hear wha-OOOOOH, crap!" I quickly stabbed the red guard and moved.

"Gotcha now, mate!" The blue whipped out his pistol and fired, but he only hit the wall. "What's that noise?"

He looked down and saw a glowing blue ball at his feet but before he could react, it went off in an explosion that sent him flying. "Crikeeeeeeeeeeeey!"

I decided to deactivate my cloaking and walked toward the door. "Hope I didn't scare you, fellas." I said in a teasing, yet kind of mean way.

Right on cue, the blue guard slammed to the ground with a sickening thud. "Bollocks," he gasped as he died. Ok I should probably explain a little bit on what's going on. See, I've been tracking my old friend, Richter Abend, better known as Sybak, hoping that he'd lead me to his boss. But I wasn't having any luck until he came here. Now I hate locked doors, but at least that means there's something, or someone, worth locking up. Still, I have a pretty good sixth sense, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was walking right into a trap. And I was right. Next thing I know, the door swung open and a jeep burst out of the darkness, driven by none other then Sybak himself.

"Crap!" I yelped, diving out of the way.

Quickly, Sybak hit the brakes but not hard enough and the jeep ended up with its front wheels hanging over the edge of the wall.

Sybak then turned in his seat and noticed me pointing an assault rifle at him. "Well, well, look who abandoned her mates to follow me," he chortled. "I'm flattered of course, but you'll pardon me for not acting surprised, Lu."

Oh, by the way, I'm Luin. Like Sybak's it's a nickname. So if you want to refer to me by my real name, it's Marta Lualdi.

"And it seems you've killed my two best guards," Sybak sighed.

"Oops, sorry about that," I sneered.

"Perish the thought, my dear," he replied with a dismissive shrug. "Tomorrow is pay day; you actually saved me quite a bit of money. Kill anyone else and I might have to start paying you commission."

My hands gripped the gun tightly. "Where is he?"

"Oh right," the bounty hunter scowled. "And here I thought you were spending all this time trying to get close to me. Tsk tsk."

Ok now I was getting really annoyed. "Cut the shit. Where is he?"

"Yes, he asks about you too, Lu. It's almost as if you two are of the same mind."

"That's not funny," I growled.

"Sorry, but I can't play matchmaker today," Sybak retorted. "I'm entirely too busy."

With that, he put the jeep into reverse and drove back from the ledge but as he changed gear and drove off, I managed to leap onto the side of the vehicle and started punching Sybak in the face. Before I knew it, he steered the jeep right against the wall, knocking me off.

"Dammit!" I yelled as hitting the ground.

"Ta-ta for now!" Sybak called out as he drove away.

Quickly, I got to my feet, took out my sniper rifle and ran up a wall so I could get a good vantage point. Sybak is my only lead. Losing him would mean losing any chance of finding his boss. There was no way I was gonna let that as the jeep drove out from the temple, I raised the sniper rifle, carefully took aim, and fired, sending the tracking device zooming through the air before it hit the back of the jeep. I activated the scanner on my wrist smiling at the flashing red light that appeared on the screen. Sybak didn't know it, but he was gonna lead me right to him.


	2. Chapter 2

I followed the trail of the tracker from the snowy plains, over the mountains and across a barren wasteland until she arrived at a tall tower where the trail stopped. At last, I had reached the lair where he was hiding. But I knew getting in wouldn't be easy. As I stood there working out a plan, I found myself thinking back to when it all started… Eight hundred years and several months ago...

* * *

The Special Forces training unit.

Explosions lit up the area as the recruits ran across the field, ducking for cover. A loudspeaker issued commands now and then. "Alright, I wanna see some hustle out here! I mean the hard work kind of hustle not the disco or legal scam kind of hustle. I apologize for the confusion on that earlier."

While I was in military training, some people approached me and offered me the chance to take part in some top-secret experimental program. They didn't give me all the details, but I was intrigued and accepted the offer. Within days, they had equipped me with special armor and explained its unique abilities. They also gave me a special codename from one of the cities. Apparently, the girls got the Sylvaranti cities, and the boys got Tethe'allan cities. Then they revealed the next part of their experiment and told me never to tell anyone else. But a lot of people heard rumors about the program, including my boyfriend at the time, Emil Castagnier who came to visit me before he left for Flanoir Island.

While the other recruits were hustling hard, I stood above looking downward, still getting used to my armor. All of a sudden, I feel two arms wrap around me, accompanied by a voice. "Hey there."

I turned around to see Emil smiling at me, then quickly kissing me. "Hey," I said with a smile, I was actually really glad I got to see him before he left, and surprised since he wasn't even allowed to be in this area. He looked over my jet black armor before facing me again.

"Your armor looks good," he complimented, "a lot better than this regulation blue stuff they give the rest of us." At the time, he was still a rookie, so he naturally got the standard blue armor they gave out. Luckily it wasn't long before he got his trademark cobalt armor.

"They told us each one has a unique ability," I replied. "I've been trying to figure out what mine is, but this thing is kinda difficult to work."

His face became more serious and concerned. "Marta, you know, you don't have to do this."

"I'm not doing it because I have to." I reassured him. I really wasn't, I wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps. He was a soldier in the army and did great things, and he died when I was 17. I joined because I wanted to make him proud in the afterlife.

"It's just that, there are all these rumors about these experiments they're running. They're taking computer programs and putting them inside people's heads. It… just sounds a little crazy."

"You know I can't talk to you about it." I whispered

"I know."

"Technically, you're not even supposed to be here."

"I know."

Just then, the voice of one of Emil's fellow rookies and friends, cut in on our conversation "Hey Emil, come on! We gotta go!"

"Yeah, hold on a second, Dida," he called back.

"Yes, I think it best you go, Private," I turned to see it was one of the guys in my division. At the time, I knew he was Sybak, but other then that I had never really talked to him. "We've got real military work to do here. Perhaps you should go back to your training. Learn how to get shot properly." he laughed.

I saw Emil reach for his handgun, but I stopped him, and silently asked him not to do what he was thinking. He got the message and moved his hand from the gun. "Yeah, whatever," Emil scowled. "I was already leaving."

I walked with him toward the exit, and away from the red-headed jerk. Emil stopped at the exit to embrace me one more time. "Marta, I… just be careful." he kissed me one last time and left with his friend. He was right about the rumors every operative was paired and implanted with some kind of modified AI. They called them Centurions. They were supposed to make us faster or stronger or in my case, just plain meaner. The experiment worked for a while… then people just started going crazy. During one of the training courses, a recruit in the strength test threw his heavy load at one of the machines, smashing it to pieces. In the speed test, several recruits started punching the scientists. At the meanness test, I watched in horror as three recruits shot some of the supervisors. But the worst news came when one recruit's Centurion went insane during the implantation process… So they scrapped the project and began removing the Centurion modules and deleting them one by one. Problem was, some of the Centurions didn't want to be deleted, resisting the removal process. The one in my head, the Centurion Omega called Tenebrae, was one of the difficult ones.

Since they couldn't erase him, they decided to erase both of us. And that didn't go over so well. I was taken to a secret laboratory and strapped into a large capsule where the scientists explained that because of Tenebrae's violent nature, I had to be euthanized to prevent it from overwhelming my mind. But as they prepped the gas chamber, I was taken over by Tenebrae and smashed out of the capsule. Guards and scientists tried to catch me but Tenebrae overpowered them all before tossing a plasma grenade into the machines, causing a great explosion. We barely made it out before the lab was destroyed.

By the time we escaped the facility, it was pretty clear I had to do something to get rid of Omega for good. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to hide your thoughts from something that lives inside your head. It wasn't long before he figured out how to jump outta me and into other people using the radio. So removing him was the easy part. Killing him, was gonna be a different story. That was my goal. I looked out, knowing that it wouldn't be easy. I let out a defeated sigh and walked back to the motorcycle I had stolen from the temple. As much as I hate to admit it… "I'm gonna need some help."


	3. Chapter 3

To get into Tenebrae's lair, I needed the help of a specialist in infiltration and here in a city about half a day's drive from the fortress, I hoped to find the best in the business: Decus Zimmermann. During the program, he was called Exire or just Ex for short. He was one of my fellow recruits in the Centurion experiment and with his Centurion and the special healing factor in his armor, he rose to the top of his class. During one of the teamwork challenges, He was among the opponents that fought against me. Things got a little out of hand when the others started using live rounds. He tried to help me but he was knocked out by a live grenade. I managed to save his life, but his eye got seriously injured, losing 60% vision. After that, we became really good friends, hell out of everyone in the program, I probably liked him the most. Later on, when we deserted the program, he disappeared into the backstreets and now it was in these streets that I would hopefully find him.

I found someone wearing a black shirt and jeans kneeling by the door of a store, humming as he flicked through his lock picks. I wouldn't have paid it any mind, but he had long and messy purple hair. I wanted to see if it really was him. So I decided to mess with him a bit. I pulled out my gun, kept the safety on, and pressed it to his neck. "Alright, freeze!"

"Oh, sorry officer," he cried, dropping his picks. "I uh, lost my keys to the shop here and uh, I was trying to figure out a way to, you know um…" I noticed him reaching for a hidden weapon and laughed a bit, putting my gun away. It was him alright.

"You never were a good liar, Ex."

He chuckled. "Ex? I haven't been called Ex in a really long time." He got to his feet and turned around revealing the scar on the left side of his face and his slightly clouded eye. "How you doing, Marta?"

"I've been good. Great to see you, Decus." I replied, giving him a hug. "You down to petty theft now? It seems like a waste of your talents."

"Hey, whatever pays the rent," he said with a shrug. "There's not much call for a former infiltration specialist these days."

"I think that's about to change." I retorted. He raised an eyebrow before I expanded a bit more. "There's a place I need to get in to and they don't want me to get into it."

"You know, they never do." Decus turned to his left. "What do you think, V? Should we trust her?"

As he spoke, a glowing green human looking hologram appeared on his shoulder and looked at me _"Hmm, that depends,"_ he muttered in a soft mechanical voice._"Is he still with her?"_

I jumped back in alarm, not expecting that at all. It was a Centurion. I thought that they were all removed. I grabbed my handgun faster then I knew I could and pointed at the Centurion "What the hell?! You still have yours?!"

Instanly, it flashed red. _"Alarm, threat level raised! 71% chance of violent outcome!"_

"Okay, take it easy," Decus reassured the figure.

"What's going on here?" I asked in a slightly scared, but demanding voice.

_"Chance of defeating Agent __Luin__ in combat is extremely unlikely,"_ he warned as he faded back to green.

"Thank you, V." He took a cautious step towards me. "Look, put the weapon down, Marta. Ventus isn't a threat to anyone, he never was. You know, if anyone should be nervous about onboard passengers around here, it should be me."

"Well, don't be nervous," I said, putting away the gun. "Tenebrae's gone."

_"Chance of defeating Agent Luin: still very unlikely,"_ Ventus warned.

"Okay, I get it," Decus muttered. "Thank you, retire now."

_"Executing,"_ Ventus replied and he disappeared again.

He started walking and I followed suit. "Let's go to my place. I'm not too far from here."

Soon Decus and I arrived at a small apartment block and made our way into a small, well-furnished flat.

"Nice place," I said admirably, sitting on a chair. "You furnish it yourself?"

"Actually I had an interior decorator help me, she's dead now." Decus said stared at me with his good eye. "Look, Marta, are you _absolutely sure_ he's not anywhere in that head of yours?"

I nodded. "Tenebrae's gone. That's why I'm here."

"Oh…" Decus turned round and then sat down on the couch and placed his feet on the coffee table. "Let me guess: he's gone, but that's not good enough. You wanna kill him too."

"He spent a lot of time in my head, Decus. "You know what it's like: Whatever _they_ think, _we_ think. Whatever we know, they know."

"Yeah, I'm familiar," Decus groaned. "Remember all Rick's dumb knock-knock jokes?"

I leaned forward a bit to show I was serious and sincere about why I was here. "Decus, this is serious. Tenebrae wants to do a lot of bad things. I already know where he is, I just need your help to get in."

Decus raised his right eyebrow. "Why?"

"He's not alone," I scowled. "Sybak."

"Uhh, speak of the devil." Decus lowered his feet off the table and stared at me back. "Okay, let's say I do this. What's in it for me?"

"Payback." I glanced at the left side of his face. "How's the vision in your eye?"

"Still blurry... hurts when I read."

"Well then," I said as I stood up. "How about a little revenge?"

"You know, technically, you're the reason I _have_ one bad eye."

"No, technically I'm the reason you still have one _good_ eye."

"Hmmm…" Decus rubbed his chin then Ventus popped up by his shoulder. "What do you think, V?"

_"Agent Luin poses a serious risk to any mission. The spontaneous ejection of a Centurion AI can be catastrophic to the psyche of an agent."_

"She seems okay to me."

_"May I remind you what happened when Centurion Gamma removed itself from Agent Sybak?"_

"That won't be necessary, V. Look, what's your recommendation? Are we in or are we out?"

_"Tactical Matrix is incalculable. Outcome is uncertain. Chance of success is unknown. But, a little payback would be nice."_

"We're in."


	4. Chapter 4

_Exire's point of view_

I decided to wear my armor from my time in the program with Marta. It was similar to hers, except mine was mainly tan with some silver trim on the wrists. We arrived at the fortress she said Tenebrae was at and set up a small camp to keep watch. We kept watch almost the entire time, but we talked a lot of it. She went on telling me about some of the adventures she'd been on. One of them made me laugh harder then I had in years. Her getting jumped by an alien-angel she was trying to help had to have been the funniest thing I had heard in years. After a few days of waiting, I noticed Marta getting tenser and tenser until she finally spoke up.

"Okay, I'm officially worried. There hasn't been any movement for days. It looks like they've bunkered down or left."

"Yep," I agreed with a nod. "What do you think, V?"

"If Tenebrae is inside the building, we must enter to locate him," Ventus assessed. "If he has already left, that building contains the only clues to his current location. In either scenario, we must-"

"Let's go," I interrupted. I knew how long winded Ventus could be.

Marta nodded and we set off across the desert plain towards the tower.

When we arrived, Marta whispered to me. "Okay then, stick to the plan. We split, maintain visual, no radios, movement on fours. Sync?"

"Synced," I replied.

"Go," Marta said and we raced off in opposite directions of the tower.

As I ran, Delta reappeared at my left side. _"__Decus__, I am concerned. I have been monitoring Agent __Luin__; her vital statistics are well above normal."_

"I'm sure she's just tense, Ventus, Okay? I am too," I admitted. "And I'm not fighting something that lived in my head for a few years."

_"I Agree, but the anomaly is worth noting. Once we encounter the target, her emotions may make her actions erratic."_

"What can I tell ya?" I asked with a shrug. "It's just one of the things that make us human."

I noticed him thinking for a moment._ "Excellent point; I was not looking at it from a flawed perspective. I will try to do so in the future."_

"Well, it sure would make these conversations easier," I chuckled. "Thanks for coming down to my level, V."

_"I am here to assist,_" Delta replied with a smile and a nod.

Soon I arrived at the entrance and met up with Marta.

"No vis," Marta said.

"No vis," I echoed.

We ran into the building and made our way to a small nexus built in the floor.

"There it is," Marta exclaimed. "Bust the lock and this teleporter will take us up top."

I knelt next to the lock and prized the cover off, but what I saw kinda irritated me... Ok it irritated the living hell out of me. "Whoa, whoa… you said an _encrypted_ lock. This is a _holographic_ lock."

"Is there a difference?" Marta asked

"Yeah, hence the two names," I retorted.

"So can you open it or not?" she asked impatiently.

"Of course I can, it's just much harder. I just brought it up because I wanted you to realize how kick-ass I am." I wasn't lying when I said it was harder. I had a few problems with holographic locks in the past, but I've improved a lot since. Doesn't mean it isn't difficult as hell.

"I'm convinced. Get to work." the black-clad female said with a sarcasm.

As I started scanning the lock to find the weak link, Ventus decided to pop up on my shoulder again. "Why are we doing this?" he asked in a low voice. "Killing Tenebrae will not repair the damage he did to your optic nerve."

"I'm not doing to fix my eye, V. I'm doing it because my eye is broken."

Ventus frowned. "I apologize, but that does not make sense to me."

I sighed, remembering Ventus was never all that good at 'being human.' "Marta and Tenebrae were always the best. _No-one_ could compete with them; not me, not Sybak, not _anybody_. Trying to beat her when I should have given up is how I got hurt in the first place."

"Oh, so it is pride," Delta realized. "I was registering an emotion, but I incorrectly categorized it as 'stupidity.'"

"Yeah, they're closely related," I chuckled.


	5. Chapter 5

After ten minutes of working with the lock, Decus finally managed to break through and the nexus began to hum and spark.

Marta grabbed her assault rifle and stepped towards the teleporter. "Okay, I'll take the lead. Give me fifteen seconds then follow, sync?"

"Sync." Decus replied as he stood up and whipped out his machinegun.

With a nod, Marta ran into the nexus and disappeared.

Ex then turned to look at his Centurion partner. "I need you to stay tight, V. Watch my bad side."

"Of course, watching left." Ventus replied. "Executing in three, two, one, execute. Good luck."

"Thanks." He nodded and he set off through the teleporter… and straight into a mighty firefight.

He spotted Marta as she took out three armed guards. "Marta, sitrep!"

"Five of them at three six and three- Oh!" Marta ducked behind a pillar to avoid a flung grenade.

"Three Alpha mark." Ventus finished. "I do believe I've received the last part of the sentence."

Marta took out the grenade thrower before giving the report. "Dead one at three, one down, cover my thirteen!"

Decus took out two of the guards then Ventus gave a warning. "Problem, beta and small explosives needed."

Decus spun round and flung a grenade at the soldiers behind him, taking them out. "Ace!"

"Stop thinking!" Marta yelled. "Go low!"

"Copy." Decus shouted as he ran over to where Marta was hiding.

"Next reload, let's split up." Marta ordered as she loaded a clip into her rifle. "You go Bravo."

"Copy." Decus replied as he reloaded. "V, I need a speaker for mark."

"Speaker active." Ventus confirmed.

"Copy." Marta said.

"Mark." Ventus ordered.

"Mark!" Decus and Marta replied as they ran out of cover.

As the guards came towards them, Marta fired her rifle and took out three soldiers.

"Reload and go." Ventus informed Decus. "Three."

Ex spun round and took out the three approaching from the side.

"Enemy eliminated." Ventus informed. "92% efficiency; 36 rounds of 39 fired."

Marta took out two more before her rifle began to stutter. "Dammit, _jam_!" she scowled as she ran back to the pillar. "Cover, cover, cover!"

Decus turned to take out the others, but Ventus then spotted Sybak approaching. "Alarm!"

But before he could react, Sybak opened fire and Decus stumbled back with a cry of pain, gripping the left side of his chest before falling down. Marta threw a grenade out, but Sybak ducked aside.

Marta ran over to her colleague's side. "Ex, are you okay?"

"It's that… damn left side." he grunted.

"V, info."

Ventus quickly scanned his friend. "Decus has sustained two wounds to his upper-left chest. Recommend evac stat."

"Just… need a minute." Ex groaned, struggling to get up.

"Administering field stint and analgesic." Ventus stated.

"Wait." Ex gasped as he felt the drugs take effect then he grabbed Marta's arm. "Luin, don't… don't let him…" But then his eyes slid shut and he slumped back.

"Decus is now unconscious." Ventus said then he looked up. "Alarm: target Alpha has reloaded."

Marta was still looking at Ex. "How bad is it, V?"

Ventus bowed his head sadly. "He will not survive."

Marta sighed and switched on her earpiece radio. "Okay V, hop in to me. I'll host you until we get outta here."

"Thank you Marta." Ventus murmured. "But I would prefer to stay with Ex. He will need me to maintain his pain medication."

"An AI can't fall into enemy hands, V." Marta reminded him. "If you're in there when he dies, you know what the armor's protocol will do to you."

Ventus nodded grimly. "I would prefer to stay with Ex."

Marta gave a sad smile. "That's very kind of you, V."

"It's just part of what makes us human, Marta."

As Sybak peeked out of his hiding place behind a pillar, he spotted Marta approaching him, gun raised. He quickly fired at her, but she didn't fall. Just then, he heard a gun being cocked behind him and a voice hiss, "Don't move."

He looked round and saw Marta standing there, pointing a pistol right at his head. "How the hell…?"

Marta glanced over to her double. "Thanks for the light show, V."

The second Marta nodded as she faded into green. "I'm here to assist."

"Shit." Sybak scowled as he dropped his gun.

Then Ventus started to flicker and he sighed sadly. "However, I am afraid I will not be able to assist you further. Decus' armor is beginning to shut down."

Marta nodded sadly. "I understand."

Ventus gave a solemn salute. "Good luck to both of you."

"_Both_ of us?" Sybak cried out. "You _must_ be failing if you wish your enemy luck."

"Good and evil are human constructs, Richter." Ventus replied, his voice fading with his body. "I was merely attempting to be courteous…" And with that, he disappeared for the last time.

"Well, one more Freelancer gone." Sybak chuckled. "I'm afraid the reunion committee will be none too happy to hear about that."

"Can it." Marta snapped. "Tell me where Tenebrae is and don't play dumb with me."

"Hardly." the bounty hunter snorted. "I do believe he is currently killing all your friends in that miserable canyon."

"What? Why?"

"I might have mentioned you were there. He's quite keen to make your acquaintance again."

"But you _saw_ me at the snow fortress!"

"Marta, may I remind you I still have a contract on some of those people at Blood Gulch. I figured why not kill eight birds with one stone, eh?"

"Well, you just signed his death warrant." Marta sneered.

"Afraid not, my dear. You see, he's already moved on to someone else, and you'll have no way of telling who."

Marta gasped then she growled, "_Who_ did he jump in to?"

Sybak just sniggered. "That's between me and Tenebrae. Oh, but you'll find out soon enough."

Marta then gave a shrug. "You know what? You don't _have_ to tell me. All I have to do is pummel you senseless, rip out your earpiece, hack it with my phone, and access your communication logs. I'll know _exactly_ where he is."

"Uh, hm, I see." Sybak gulped. "Well, in that case, perhaps I _shall_ tell you."

Marta thought for a moment then put her gun away and cracked her knuckles. "Nah, I like my way better." Then quickly punched out Sybak.


End file.
